John Harris and Desmond Milligan killed in twin-engine plane crash at Hammond Northshore Regional Airport in Hammond, Louisiana

In a posting on Facebook, the Daily Star of Hammond quoted Hammond Mayor Pete Panepinto also saying that two people had been killed. The small plane crashed around 4 p.m. while trying to return to the airport, FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford said via email. Several media outlets are reporting that two people were killed in a plane crash Wednesday afternoon (Oct. 14) at Hammond Northshore Regional Airport. An FAA spokesman said the twin-engine Cessna 421 "experienced trouble shortly after departing'' the airport and crashed while trying to return. The FAA spokesman would not provide information on injuries or fatalities.

Two people were dead after a plane crashed Wednesday at Louisiana's Hammond Northshore Regional Airport, officials said. Images from the scene showed smoke coming from the spot where the plane crashed. Local authorities said the incident was reported before 4 p.m. at the airport off Highway 190. The plane went down just outside the Hammond Industrial Park, WDSU-TV reported. Officials said two people who were on the plane were killed.

Two men died when a twin-engine Cessna crashed at the Hammond airport Wednesday afternoon. The Federal Aviation Administration identified the airplane as a twin-engine Cessna that experienced trouble shortly after departing from the Hammond Northshore Regional Airport and crashed while attempting to return to the field. Hammond Fire Chief John Thomas said the two men were the only people aboard the plane. At the airport, multiple fire department crews arrived to extinguish the fire on the plane and the surrounding grass fire. Lacy Landrum, director of administration for Hammond, said it is unlikely the men will be identified before Thursday.

Brannen says witnesses saw the right engine of the airplane lose power before the plane crashed into the ground at a "near vertical" angle after reaching an altitude of about 150 feet. HAMMOND -- The wreckage of an airplane that crashed at the Hammond Northshore Regional Airport is being removed. John Brannen, a senior National Transportation Safety Board investigator, says crews were removing the wreckage Friday. The twin-engine Cessna 421 crashed shortly after takeoff Wednesday. The airport is open while crews clear up the wreckage.

The National Transportation Safety Board reports an apparent loss of engine power shortly after takeoff led to the fatal plane crash at the Hammond airport earlier this month. Pilot Desmond Milligan, of Lafayette, and passenger John Harris, of Denham Springs, died in the Oct. 14 crash at the Hammond Northshore Regional Airport. The cause of the engine failure has not been determined. NTSB preliminary report released Thursday finds the Cessna 421B twin-engine plane was about 100 feet in the air and a little more than halfway down the 6,500-foot runway, making its initial climb, when a witness heard "a loud pop" followed by slowing of the airplane's right engine and right propeller. The Advocate reports a final report on the crash could take a year or more to complete.